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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26498518">I Promise I Will Stay By Your Side</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/K1mHeechu1/pseuds/K1mHeechu1'>K1mHeechu1</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>EXO (Band), NCT (Band), SuperM (Korea Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adoption, Bunny Hybrid Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung, Childhood, Cute, Dog Hybrid Johnny Seo, Family, Found Family, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Growing Up Together, Hurt/Comfort, Hybrids, M/M, Strangers to Friends, but only hinted</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 08:20:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,805</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26498518</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/K1mHeechu1/pseuds/K1mHeechu1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"I'll be your friend! I'm Doyoung, what's your name?"<br/>"I'm Johnny."<br/>"I have an important question: do you like carrots?" Johnny shook his head no. "That's perfect! Just give me your carrots when we have them! I'll give you the beef and we'll be best friends!"</p><p> </p><p>Or: Johnny and Doyoung's lives as hybrids growing up together.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Byun Baekhyun/Lee Taeyong, Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung/Suh Youngho | Johnny</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>177</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>I Promise I Will Stay By Your Side</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello! My prompt for the fest was prompt  #JDW29. Like an idiot, I forgot to copy the exact wording of the prompt, so I wrote something with what I remembered, I'm so sorry if the prompter reads this!!</p><p>I'm tempted to turn this into an actual, full-length story in the future. If that's something you'd be interested in, please let me know in the comments!!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Johnny could barely remember his life before Doyoung.</span>
</p><p><br/>
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</p>
<hr/><p><br/>
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</p><p>
  <span>He had been really young, still a puppy, when he had been dumped at the shelter— a small, terrified 5-year-old that didn't understand why his owners were leaving him there. Was it because he had scratched the door while trying to open it after that nightmare? Johnny hadn't meant to do that! All he had wanted was someone to drive the monsters away. Instead it was his owners that had driven away as he stood there crying, watching them close the door and never come back for him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He had been taken to a small room where the kind caretaker dropped the bag that contained everything he owned in the world on top of a bare mattress.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"This will be your room now, Johnny." The man ran a gentle hand through his hair, trying to calm him down. "You'll share this room with another boy. You'll meet him later when he's back from school, ok?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Johnny was left alone to lie on his bed, hugging the blanket he had owned for as long as he could remember. He cried for the family he had lost, for the owners he didn't have, and for the small owner he had spent hours daydreaming about. He would never get to know that baby, and Johnny mourned the loss of the best friend he always wanted but was taken away from him before he even met them.</span>
</p><p><br/>
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</p><p>
  <span>"Are you ok?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The quiet voice startled Johnny out of his own thoughts. He looked up to find a tall, lanky boy standing in front of him. He cocked his head to the side as he stared at Johnny. He frowned, his eyebrows so light they were barely visible.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'm sad."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The boy gingerly sat down next to where Johnny was lying on the bed, still leaving some space between them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"It's okay to be sad. I don't remember when I came here, I was too little, but I bet I was sad too."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Did you stop being sad?" Johnny asked, voice barely more than a whisper.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yes! The shelter is not too bad, I promise! We get cuddles and hugs whenever we want, and the food is yummy! Oh, and school! You get to go to school and learn lots of things! And play with friends!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I don't have friends," Johnny muttered, burying his nose in his blanket.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'll be your friend! I'm Doyoung, what's your name?" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'm Johnny."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I have an important question: do you like carrots?" Johnny frowned but shook his head no. "That's perfect! Just give me your carrots when we have them! I'll give you the beef and we'll be best friends!"</span>
</p><p><br/>
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</p><p> </p>
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</p><p>
  <span>It turned out, Doyoung was the roommate the caretaker, whose name Johnny later found out was called Junmyeon, had mentioned. Doyoung had stuck to him as much as he could, only leaving Johnny's side to go to school, because Johnny couldn't start school until his med check came back clean. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And after that, when he did start school, Doyoung fought all the mean, wild kids who tried to bully Johnny for being tiny and shy, keeping them far away from him and including him in his friend group.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Johnny would sleep in Doyoung's bed most nights, too scared of the nightmares that would come with sleeping alone. Doyoung welcomed him with open arms, allowing him to cuddle close to his body while petting the soft fur on Johnny's ears.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You always protect me from everything," Johnny whispered one night and felt Doyoung's fingers stop moving, going still on top of his ear.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Well, I'm taller and I've been here longer. I have to protect you," Doyoung answered, moving his hand to his hair to gently scratch over his scalp. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I promise I'll grow tall and strong so I can protect you too."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Doyoung had giggled at the thought of tiny, scrawny Johnny towering over everyone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You just need to keep being my best friend and giving me your carrots. I can protect us both."</span>
</p><p><br/>
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<hr/>
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</p><p>
  <span>By the time Johnny was 17 and Doyoung 16, Doyoung's ears had gone completely black instead of the soft grey they had been when he was still a child and Johnny grew almost a whole head taller than him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They couldn't share a room anymore- older hybrids in the shelter were given their own single rooms for privacy. They fought Junmyeon tooth and nail to remain together in the same room but eventually had to give up and move into separate rooms.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Johnny still slipped into Doyoung's room at night, but now it was Doyoung who lay on top of Johnny, allowing him to pet his soft bunny ears instead of the other way around.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"We need to talk about this at some point, Doie," Johnny muttered against Doyoung's hair.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"We don't," Doyoung protested, burying his nose deeper into Johnny's neck.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Doie, I'll age out of the system in months. We need to talk about it. If I wasn't adopted in the last 12 years, I'm not going to get adopted before I age out." Doyoung whimpered at Johnny's words. "I know it's not something you want to think about, but I just... you know Junmyeon KNOWS we're... well, extremely codependent. He's been trying to get us adopted together since I came here and we became us. And I love him for it, but I think we should try to get you adopted. That's the best option we have. You're still younger and cute, and you don't get horrible panic attacks as I do, you know people would have adopted you years ago if it weren't for me."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"But I want to be with you."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'll find you. I swear I will. Once you get a family, we can meet in front of the ugly statue in the park, the one with the broken nose. I'm not letting you go forever, but I need to make sure you're safe. I promised I would protect you, and I will."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"But if I don't get adopted we can just... try to make it on our own. You can get a job, and when I age out I'll join you and-"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Doie. Please. Just try, for me. Just once. Just this weekend. Please."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Doyoung shuddered at the desperation in Johnny's voice.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Fine. Just once. But if it doesn't work, we're going with my plan."</span>
</p><p><br/>
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  <span>Doyoung sat next to Johnny on the piano bench listening to him play a soft melody, making him smile and sing softly under his breath. Johnny nudged him a little, making him roll his eyes, but sing a bit louder.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They only realised they weren't alone after finishing the song.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Wow! That was amazing! You're both really good!" They jumped, making the person's eyes widen. "Oh, sorry for startling you! I'm-"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Taeyong," Johnny muttered under his breath. Taeyong's eyes widened at being recognised, "Sorry, I- You're my favourite producer."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You like producing?" Taeyong asked, smiling widely.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, I do. I started DJing as a hobby and then I moved onto producing, but I'm not too good. My name's Johnny and this is Doyoung."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Hi," Doyoung greeted, fingers grasping Johnny's sleeve tightly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You're a really good singer!" Taeyong beamed, bouncing on his feet slightly. "Sorry for being so excited, but you're both far older than the rest of the hybrids in the shelter and I would love to chat for a little bit."</span>
</p><p><br/>
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</p>
<hr/><p><br/>
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</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A little bit ended up being half an hour of talking about hobbies, favourite food and some new music releases they had liked recently.</span>
</p><p><br/>
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</p><p>
  <span>"Yong?" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Taeyong gasped, turning around to the person leaning halfway into the room and making grabby hands for him to come closer.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Hyung, I'm sorry! We were chatting and I forgot about the time!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"It's okay, I was just catching up with Junmyeon-Hyung." He leaned down to drop a kiss on Taeyong's forehead. "Hi, nice to meet you, I'm Baekhyun!" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Johnny and Doyoung introduced themselves with a nod.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Boys, can you excuse us for a moment?" Taeyong grabbed Baekhyun's hand and dragged him out of the room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Johnny, what the hell are two of the biggest music stars in the country doing in the shelter!?" Doyoung whisper-yelled, eyes wide, "Baekhyun's like, a double million-seller, the first solo artist in this century to do that, what is he doing here!?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"He's Junmyeon-Hyung's friend, apparently?" Johnny pouted for a minute, deep in thought, before gasping out "We should get them to adopt you! That way you'd be in a good house!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"What? No! You said we'd go with my plan if yours didn't work, and it didn't. I'm not going anywhere without you." Doyoung's eyes were brimming with tears.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Doie, who in their right mind would want a Saint Bernard hybrid that hasn't even stopped growing as an add on to their Blanc de Hotot bunny hybrid?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"We do." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They turned around, finally realising the other two had come back and were now standing next to them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You- what?" Johnny said breathlessly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"We want you. Both of you." Taeyong bit his lip, looking at Baekhyun for reassurance.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"If you want to, we're offering you both a home," Baekhyun smiled softly at them, "We'd love to have you be part of our family."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They looked at each other for a moment, before Johnny nodded wildly. Doyoung buried his face in Johnny's shoulder, starting to sob quietly.</span>
</p><p><br/>
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</p><p>
  <span>They’d only had one month before Johnny aged out of the shelter system.</span>
</p><p><br/>
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</p><p>
  <span>"Move." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Doyoung groaned, rolling to the side to allow Johnny to climb into the bed, before lying back on top of Johnny. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Why are you back so laaaate?" Doyoung whined, burying his face in Johnny's chest, sighing as Johnny softly caressed his ears.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sorry, Yong-Hyung and I lost track of time. We almost have WayV's main track ready, though." Johnny dropped a tiny, barely-there kiss onto his ear. "How was your day?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Awful. Taeil-Hyung decided I needed to be on vocal rest for the rest of the week so no more training until Monday. I went to Baek-Hyung to complain, and he laughed at me!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They both snickered a little before falling into a comfortable silence.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'm glad we have a family now, John. We're together and we have a family. This seems like a dream. Did you ever thought we would have a family?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I already had a family, Doie. I’ve had a family since that first night when you were 4 and I was 5, tiny and scared, and you made me promise to give you all my carrots."</span>
</p><p><br/>
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</p><p>
  <span>(10 years later:</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Johnny, please don't forget to call Ten and tell him we have his solo track ready."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I already did, he's meeting us at the studio tomorrow morning. Yong-Hyung, have you seen my ex-boyfriend anywhere?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"JOHNNY, STOP SAYING I'M YOUR EX-BOYFRIEND ALL THE TIME! I'M YOUR FIANCE!")</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Find me on <a href="https://twitter.com/K1mHeechu1">Twitter</a> (plz, I need more Twitter friends! It'd be nice to have more people to talk to!), <a href="https://instagram.com/k1mheechu1/">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://curiouscat.qa/K1mHeechu1">CC</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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